Ankle & Lower Leg

What It Is

A broken lower leg often happens after a serious accident, such as a car or motorcycle crash, but it can also occur in football or other contact sports (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025). In sports injuries, the fracture is often caused by a twisting force, for example when the foot is planted and another player collides with you. Depending on how the injury happens, the pattern of the break can be different. Another cause might be kicking, for example in martial arts, or putting a lot of force through the legs, such as during a vault in gymnastics. If you think you have broken your leg, get medical advice as soon as possible (NHS, 2025).

Tibia and Fibula Fracture Anatomy

The leg supports the body when standing and lets you walk, jump, run and do many other movements. Muscles in the lower leg move the ankle, foot and toes, and many of them start near the back of the knee.

The lower part of the leg is made up of two bones: the tibia (shinbone) and the fibula. The tibia is the larger of the two. It supports most of your weight and is an important part of both the knee and ankle joints (AAOS, n.d.). In many tibia fractures the fibula is broken as well.

The bones can break at different points along their length. Breaks right at the ankle are usually treated as ankle fractures; this sheet is mainly about breaks along the long middle part (shaft) of the bones. An X-ray is usually needed to confirm the break, and treatment depends on the type of break and how bad it is (NHS, 2025).

Not a diagnosis — for more information, contact me or another trusted healthcare provider.

Treatment

Self-Care & Treatment

Rehabilitation

Once your hospital team allows, I can support your rehabilitation with hands-on work, walking practice and strengthening to help restore movement and strength. See the My Approach tab for how I work.

After surgery, or after the cast is removed, you will go through a rehabilitation programme (physiotherapy) to restore the movement and strength lost while the leg was kept still (NHS, 2025). Rehabilitation can take several months, but it is necessary for those wishing to get back to playing sport.

Treatments you may want to discuss with your family doctor, nurse practitioner or hospital team

Options outside my scope

Cast and brace: a cast holds the bones still while they heal, and after several weeks it may be replaced with a removable functional brace (AAOS, n.d.).
Surgery: for serious, open or badly displaced breaks, the bones may be held in place with a metal rod inside the bone (intramedullary nailing, the method most surgeons now use), with plates and screws, or with an external frame (AAOS, n.d.).
Follow-up checks: you will usually have follow-up appointments, which may include X-rays, to check the bone is healing (NHS, 2025).

How I can help (see the My Approach tab)

Easing the areas that work overtime while your leg is protected
Help with swelling, stiffness and scars, once your team allows
Setting up walking aids, gait training and rebuilding leg strength

Tips

A broken leg usually takes 6 to 12 weeks to heal but can take longer (NHS, 2025); most tibial shaft fractures take 4 to 6 months to heal completely (AAOS, n.d.). Ask your doctor before returning to contact sports.
Rest and raise your leg whenever possible (NHS, 2025). If you want to use ice, ask me or your hospital team for guidance first, and do not get a plaster cast wet.
Swelling will go into the leg, foot and ankle. Gently move your toes while in a cast, and when your team says it is safe, keep gentle movement in the ankle.
Follow the exercises your physiotherapist or I give you.
Get help straight away – call 911 or go to the emergency room at your nearest hospital – if your pain becomes severe or keeps getting worse, your leg, foot or toes feel numb or like they are burning, look swollen or turn blue or white, or your cast feels too tight. These can be signs of compartment syndrome, a dangerous build-up of pressure in the muscles that needs emergency treatment (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025).
Contact your hospital team if your cast is rubbing or feels loose, there is a bad smell or wetness under it, or you feel hot, cold or shivery (NHS, 2025).

Treatment

My Approach

A broken shinbone needs protecting while it heals, but a leg kept still for weeks gets stiff, swollen and weak. Your hospital team decides how much weight you can put through the leg and when you can move the knee and ankle. I work inside those limits, and because a break like this stops normal daily activities, I need your team's okay before any hands-on treatment.

Please bring any X-ray or scan reports and notes from your medical team to your first visit. They're an important part of planning safe treatment for you.

While It's Protected

Easing the other leg, hips and low back, and your shoulders and arms if you're on crutches or a walker
Gentle lymphatic drainage above the cast, with the leg raised
Keeping the hip, knee and toes moving, as your team allows
Setting up crutches or a walker and practising walking with them

Once Your Team Allows More

Hands-on work for the calf, shin and thigh, with no heat over metal rods, plates or screws, and scar work once healed
Pain-free ankle and knee movement, with gentle joint mobilisation only once the bone has healed
Gait training, balance and leg strength, from calf raises and sit-to-stands to step-ups and gym-based work
A graded return to running and sport once your team agrees

Stretching or resistance across the fracture waits until your team confirms it has healed. If your pain becomes severe or keeps getting worse, your leg, foot or toes feel numb or turn blue or white, or your cast feels too tight, call 911 or go to the emergency room.

What to Expect

Typical Course

Typical course: While your leg is protected, visits are usually short and about once or twice a week, then weekly, then spacing out as you manage more on your own. A broken leg usually takes 6 to 12 weeks to heal but can take longer, most shinbone fractures take 4 to 6 months to heal completely, and rehabilitation can take several months, following your hospital team's plan.

What I Focus On

Working Within Your Team's Limits

Compensation Relief

Swelling Control

Walking & Gait

Leg Strength

Please read

When to See a Doctor First

When to get emergency help

After a leg injury, call 911 or go to the emergency room at your nearest hospital if

your leg is twisted or bent out of shape
a bone is sticking out of your leg, or you have a bad cut or wound
your skin is cold and sweaty, or pale, blue or grey
you have a fast or weak pulse, or difficulty breathing

(NHS, 2025)

Sources

References

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (n.d.) Tibial (shinbone) shaft fractures. OrthoInfo. Available at: https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/tibia-shinbone-shaft-fractures/ (Accessed: 7 October 2026).
NHS (2025) Broken leg. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/broken-leg/ (Accessed: 7 October 2026).

Massage therapy · Kitchener–WaterlooTibia and Fibula Fracture

What It Is

Tibia and Fibula Fracture Anatomy

Self-Care & Treatment

Rehabilitation

Treatments you may want to discuss with your family doctor, nurse practitioner or hospital team

Tips

My Approach

While It's Protected

Once Your Team Allows More

Typical Course

When to See a Doctor First

When to get emergency help

References

Related Conditions

Book a session

Massage therapy · Kitchener–WaterlooTibia and Fibula Fracture

What It Is

Tibia and Fibula Fracture Anatomy

Self-Care & Treatment

Rehabilitation

Treatments you may want to discuss with your family doctor, nurse practitioner or hospital team

Tips

My Approach

While It's Protected

Once Your Team Allows More

Typical Course

When to See a Doctor First

When to get emergency help

References

Related Conditions

Tibial Shaft Fracture

Achilles Tendon Rupture

Ankle Fracture

Ankle Fractures in Children

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